Category Archives: Alumni

Eight individuals were recognized by the Michigan Technological University Alumni Board of Directors at its annual Alumni Dinner and Awards Ceremony Friday evening. The event was the centerpiece of the Alumni Reunion, which took place August 3-5, 2017.

Nicholas H. Schreiner is a recipient of the Humanitarian Award. The award honors alumni who, through their outstanding involvement and dedication, have made a significant contribution of volunteer leadership or service that has improved or enriched the lives of others and the welfare of humanity, and whose accomplishments reflect admirably on or bring honor to their alma mater.

Schreiner, who earned a master’s in environmental engineering at Michigan Tech, has served as a water and sanitation engineer with Medecins Sans Frontieres (also known as Doctors Without Borders). He was part of a team that responded to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014.

Schreiner came to Michigan Tech to learn and develop as an engineer but also to provide service to at-risk people and communities. He accepted the award on behalf of all of the people in need and serviced by Doctors without Borders.

The best decision I made was to come to Michigan Tech, in the out-of-the-way corner of the UP.Nick Schreiner

Humanitarian Engineering

Peace Corps Master’s International (PCMI) alumnus Nick Schreiner ’11 is an example of someone using his engineering skills to make an impact in some of the most troubled spots on the planet: fighting Ebola in Sierra Leone, supporting displaced populations in a Protection of Civilian (POC) zone in South Sudan, and working with refugee populations in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Central African Republic (CAR).

I found my former Peace Corps service in Mauritania and Mali had planted a seed calling me to do something more with my life.Nick Schreiner

In fall 2014 as the Ebola epidemic continued to spiral, Schreiner was asked to join a MSF team in Sierra Leone.

“This was a different kind of insecurity,” he says. “You can’t see Ebola. It is both everywhere and nowhere.”

On August 27, 2016, our father and Michigan Tech grad from the Class of 1962, Harbans Singh, left this beautiful earth. Our father was a great man and a once in a generation business man.

He very fondly remembered his time in Houghton and made sure we remembered that he received a great education and wonderful experience at Michigan Tech. His dealings with the Deans and Presidents were great. He was the first man to graduate with a turban from your school. He was super proud of that.

In 1960, our father came from India to the U.S. with no money. From California, he ended up at Michigan Tech at a time when he was unhappy and unsure he would succeed in America. Michigan Tech was a great experience, and he met many wonderful friends and teachers. He completed his degree very confidently.

After his Civil Engineering degree in 1962, our father worked for the State of Illinois until he founded and created Eagle Grips, the world’s largest producer of custom hand gun grips.

Harbans Singh left India in 1960 to pursue a better life. He enrolled at Michigan Tech, graduating as the first Sikh at the school in 1962 with a BS in civil engineering. He married Ms. Indira Sodhi in 1965 and started Art Jewel Enterprises (aka Eagle Grips) in 1978. Eagle Grips became a large international leader in custom, handmade grip production. His family considered him to be a wonderful role model, ultimate doer, optimist, and advisor.

Michigan Tech alumnus Krissy Guzak is helping Ford look toward an eco-conscious future through a variety of projects and nonprofit work. Guzak received both a BS and MS in Environmental Engineering from Michigan Tech. She is now an environmental compliance engineer in the Environmental Quality Office at Ford.

I work on a handful of things, but my two main responsibilities are acting as the plant waste subject matter expert and maintaining the paint emissions reporting system.

LANSING, Mich. (WLUC) – Gov. Rick Snyder today announced the appointments of Derhun Sanders of Redford Township and Steven Tomaszewski of Howell to the Michigan Technological University Board of Control.

The eight-member board is the governing body of the university.

“I thank Derhun and Steven for their commitment to serving on this board. I am confident they will help the university continue its success,” Snyder said.

Snyder makes appointments to university boards

Six Michigan universities will be getting new members of their governing boards after Gov. Rick Snyder announced appointments this afternoon.

Tomaszewski is the director of global facilities for General Motors. He is a board member of the Hartland Area Youth Athletic Association (HAYAA) and the MTU advisory boards for the College of Engineering and Environmental Engineering. He worked with MTU to establish the GM Rides the Waves program. Tomaszewski holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering from Michigan Technological University and a master’s degree in hazardous waste management from Wayne State University. He will replace Paul Ollila.

Governor Appoints Two Tech Alumni to Board of Trustees

Governor Rick Snyder has announced the appointments of Derhun Sanders of Redford, Michigan and Steven Tomaszewski of Howell, Michigan to serve on the Michigan Tech Board of Trustees. The eight-person board is the governing body of the University. Both men are alumni of Michigan Tech.Read more at Tech Today, by Mark Wilcox.

Tacoma city engineer and ’02 Environmental Engineer alumna, Jessica Knickerbocker, was the project manager on the $2.4 million Point Defiance Regional Storm Water Treatment Facility. The facility was designed to improve the quality of storm water flowing into Commencement Bay by funneling storm water and filtering it before it enters the Puget Sound. To watch Knickerbocker discuss the project, visit:

Josephine Zurica has been named the 2016 American Council of Engineering Companies of New York (ACEC New York) New Principal of the Year. She is only the second woman to receive this award given to an ACEC New York member who has been a principal for less than five years.

Zurica received a Peace Corps International MS from Michigan Tech in Environmental Engineering in 2006 and joined Dagher Engineering in 2007 after serving in the Peace Corps in Panama. She became principal for Dagher in 2013 at the age of 34.

Gov. Rick Snyder has re-appointed Mike Drewyor (SoT), to the State Board of Professional Surveyors and the State Board of Professional Engineers. The boards regulate the practices of professional surveyors and engineers.

Drewyor is a professor of practice in the School of Technology and teaches in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as well. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Michigan Tech.

Professor of Practice, Mike Drewyor, has been reappointed by the governor to the Michigan Board of Professional Engineers. The nine-member board serve four-year terms in which they regulate the practice of professional engineers.